Japanese atomic clock is accurate to a 100 quadrillionth of a second

Check your watch. See how long that second hand takes to tick? It may not seem all that long, but there’s more to a second than you may think. Professor Hidetoshi Katori of the University of Tokyo has developed an optical lattice clock that is accurate to 100 quadrillionth of a second.

The optical lattice clock is a variant of the optical atomic clock. The conventional atomic clock measures time by observing single items and taking averages over long stretches of time. Prof. Katori’s optical lattice clock is a million times more efficient because it can observe a million atoms at the same time.

Optical atomic clocks, and therefore the optical lattice clock, are the most accurate in the world. They set the standard for such services as television broadcasts and GPS. Prof. Katori’s clock, however, goes beyond the traditional atomic clock.

Salvador Dali’s “Persistence of Memory” serves as a reference point for Katori. Dali depicts time as bent in his painting, and Katori’s clock explains that time is bent in our ordinary timescale as well. If the fundamental constants of physics have remained the same since the Big Bang, then two atomic clocks observing different atoms should show the same second. If those constants have changed, however, Katori explains that the clocks will show different times based on where they are placed.

In the video below, Prof. Katori explains a clock would move faster if it were placed one centimeter above another clock because it is affected by less gravity.

Prof. Katori aims to use his new clock to improve GPS and hopefully predict earthquakes. His clock is an intricate work of genius, and if you have a solid understanding of physics, the video below will make sense to you.